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What's the Furthest North Ice Road?


jjohnson5150

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Could someone please let me know which road I should use if I want to fish the North end. I am heading up Thursday and would like to do my best to get some Crappies before hitting LOW on Friday.

Thanks.

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Hey Jon, I tried to send you an E-mail with an auger video. Did you get it? It looked like it could have been filmed on Red. It would be a good answer for the next guy who asks whether an extention is needed. grin.gif

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Thanks for the info. I got my ext on and am ready to be making some swiss cheese out of URL on Thursday. Can't wait.

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Could someone please let me know which road I should use if I want to fish the North end.


Before the heavy weekend snowstorm, you could get onto the North end ice at both Rocky Point and the west end of Shoreline Drive. Both of these entry points were closed by the snowstorm...

Best now to use Hillman's Road. Even with the constant plowing over this past weekend, many of the plowed secondary roads off Hillman's main road were filled with blowing snow less than 12 hours after they were plowed! Now is not the time to venture onto the North side of the lake without a road pass from Hillman's, and a cell phone from Unicell or Vorizon, so you can contact the Hillman plows if you get stuck!

However, on Monday morning I did notice a new road coming out of Rocky Point south to Hillman's Road... the intersection was marked with an empty beer case hanging on a Hillman Road post. Don't know how long that road will remain open...

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However, on Monday morning I did notice a new road coming out of Rocky Point south to Hillman's Road... the intersection was marked with an empty beer case hanging on a Hillman Road post. Don't know how long that road will remain open...


That would be Mr. Foster's road to his cabin. Not only would you have to drive through Foster's yard, get past the gaurd seal and Foster then you have about twenty miles of backwoods gravel road to get back to Waskish.

Worse come to worse I would shovel back across the lake before I drive through Fosters yard. smile.gif

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Only about 7 miles of lane and a half gravel road but every foot of the way you could meet Foster with his V-Plow AND he'll know that you had to drive across his front yard to get there. blush.gif

Earlier this year Foster did get to meet one of the new guides on URL. He pulled up on Foster's front yard, got out and exclaimed, "This isn't Hudec's!!!!!!". confused.gif What the heck, he only missed Hudec's by 5 miles. grin.gif

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Pikester, from what you told me of your little adventure I think you found Hudecs, Rocky Point, Rogers and even JR's. laugh.gif

What gets me is how you drove all over and never hit a pressure ridge?

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"the intersection was marked with an empty beer case hanging on a Hillman Road post."

It only looks like it is marking an intersection. It's really a refueling station in case Foster gets his plow truck stuck and has to walk home. grin.gifgrin.gif

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... then you have about twenty miles of backwoods gravel road to get back to Waskish.


Twenty miles of road between the North Shore and Waskish? Unbelievable...

Unless Hillman plow drivers are paid based on their reported mileage? smile.gif

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Yes it's in that 15-20 mile range but seems like about 50. I've never accessed the lake there but stayed at his cabin a few times. Was always an ice ridge when I was there close to shore that sealed it off. Good fishing about a mile and half out but having to access from Hudecs added about 20 miles

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Yes it's in that 15-20 mile range but seems like about 50.


Actually, Shoreline Drive is a regularly maintained county road that intersects with Hwy 72 five miles north of beautiful downtown Waskish. Drive exactly four miles due west on Shoreline Drive and you hit the Rocky Point road turnoff. And it's exactly two miles from the turnoff to the Rocky Point boat harbor. That's 11 miles in my book.

If you don't turn off on the Rocky Point road, but continue due west on Shoreline Drive for a total of six miles, then due south on Shoreline Drive for a bit over one mile, you reach the end of Shoreline Drive, about 30 feet from the North shore sand beach of Upper Red Lake.

That last quarter mile of road to the lake used to be an unimproved ditch grade, and you needed a 4x4 vehicle to get in and out dependably. But sometime last fall, the county grader crew improved the ditch grade, and now you can easily drive right up to the beach, a total distance of 11 1/8 miles from beautiful downtown Waskish.

And until the heavy snowfall this past weekend, you could keep on driving a mile or so out on the lake, and there were no pressure ridges in the way...

Quote:

I've never accessed the lake there but stayed at his cabin a few times. Was always an ice ridge when I was there close to shore that sealed it off.


I assume you're talking about the gentleman at Rocky Point with the plow... This past Monday morning I followed his road north from Hillman's Road about a mile or so... The road crossed one minor pressure ridge with no problems... I know, because I got out and checked... The ice on both sides of the crack had refrozen together.

Quote:

Good fishing about a mile and half out but having to access from Hudecs added about 20 miles


You're right about the fishing... smile.gif

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"If you don't turn off on the Rocky Point road, but continue due west on Shoreline Drive for a total of six miles, then due south on Shoreline Drive for a bit over one mile, you reach the end of Shoreline Drive, about 30 feet from the North shore sand beach of Upper Red Lake.

That last quarter mile of road to the lake used to be an unimproved ditch grade, and you needed a 4x4 vehicle to get in and out dependably. But sometime last fall, the county grader crew improved the ditch grade, and now you can easily drive right up to the beach,"

If you go onto the lake at the Hornoff Grade and drive 1 1/2 miles out on the lake to fish you will have travelled about 13 1/2 miles from Hillman's driveway. OR you can pay Hillman's the $8 road fee and drive 7 miles on a plowed road to fish the same spot. grin.gif

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I stand corrected.It sure seemed farther than that.

I remember driving up in a pea soup fog-late season and missed a couple turns. Between the fog and the Windsor it was a long haul

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"I assume you're talking about the gentleman at Rocky Point with the plow... This past Monday morning I followed his road north from Hillman's Road about a mile or so... The road crossed one minor pressure ridge with no problems... I know, because I got out and checked... The ice on both sides of the crack had refrozen together."

This topic just got real serious "deja vu". It seems someone read here about the new access point at Rocky Point you posted about. Seeing as Foster's truck was parked by his house they drove around his truck across his yard. OVER HIS SEWER! mad.gif So that you and everybody reading this Forum understands it.

THERE IS NOT AN ACCESS POINT AT ROCKY POINT!!!!!!!!!

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If you go onto the lake at the Hornoff Grade and drive 1 1/2 miles out on the lake to fish you will have travelled about 13 1/2 miles from Hillman's driveway. OR you can pay Hillman's the $8 road fee and drive 7 miles on a plowed road to fish the same spot.
grin.gif


The author of this thread asked, "What's the Furthest North Ice Road?"

A few weeks ago, Hillman's Road did not extend as far west as the terminus of Shoreline Drive, or even as far as Rocky Point. Fishermen were driving out from these two points, and they were the "furthest north ice roads". No plow or chains necessary, and it was easy to spot and avoid potentially dangerous cracks, etc.

Reread my initial posting. After last weekend's snowfall, I recommended using Hillman's Road. But that doesn't change the fact that these two sites on the North Shore are still "furthest north" if someone opens them up or uses them...

The bridge on Hillman's Road started to fail on Sunday. When I left the ice on Sunday evening, it was sinking and already under 6" of water. When I crossed it on Monday morning it was under 9+" of water, and wheelhouses were lined up on both sides, fearful of making the crossing. I suspect the bridge has been relocated even further north on that crack... and the distance travelled to reach those two northern sites has increased to about 7 1/2 or 8 miles your measure?

Maybe Hillman should avoid the bridge entirely, and set up another entry point at the terminus of Shoreline Drive? smile.gif

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"This topic just got real serious "deja vu". It seems someone read here about the new access point at Rocky Point you posted about. Seeing as Foster's truck was parked by his house they drove around his truck across his yard. OVER HIS SEWER!
mad.gif


WHOA! Let's stop right there... I don't trespass on private property. I don't drive across people's yards. If I needed to cross anyone's property to get to a public road, I'd ask for permission first.

I don't know Mr. Foster. I certainly didn't suggest that it would be appropriate for anyone to drive across his yard without his permission. Where do you get the information that the people who trespassed on Mr. Foster's property did so because of this thread?

Kelly, why don't you print out this thread in its entirety, and give it to Mr. Foster, and ask him who he thinks has posted appropriately.

.

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Are you able to get across the pressure ridge by driving due South from these unmaintained entrances, or must one then go East a couple miles, then South a little and then back West a couple? ooo.gif

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Are you able to get across the pressure ridge by driving due South from these unmaintained entrances?
ooo.gif


Hi Moby,

I don’t recall ever having problems with pressure ridges in that area, but I usually don’t drive much further than a mile offshore… maybe a mile and a quarter this year, because of the extremely low water level. The major east-west pressure ridges seem to be further out towards the middle of the lake.

In an earlier post on this thread, I mentioned a smaller pressure ridge that someone had plowed through about ¾ mile south of the old Rocky Point boat basin entrance. That’s the only pressure ridge I saw in that area this past weekend.

It’s been a great year for open driving on ice, even if we had to wait a long time for enough ice. But heavy snowfall makes it much more difficult to see where you’re going.

If today’s snowfall at URL is anything like everywhere else, March excursions on the lake will be confined to those ice roads kept open by large plows on even larger trucks.

Think open water! If you’ve got a small boat, a trolling motor, a lightweight trailer and a hefty friend or two, you can easily launch your boat at the end of Shoreline Drive, and avoid the lengthy round trip from the launch sites on the east and south shore. You avoid the waves and the prevailing northwest winds, save big on gas, and (usually) catch lots of fish… smile.gif

Good luck. Good fishing. Be Careful…

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Please don’t change this post into a pay/charge lake access post! My only solution for this is to treat it as a toll road. If you get on/off the lake on a control access location (private property), just pay the fee.

Just to make this clearer, MN State Fair. If I want a premium parking on private property, I paid more to park on their lawn.

Have a great night!!!

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Thanks for the info Deja Vu. When I was in that area a few weeks ago, there was a large pressure ridge, about 2 1/2 feet high, running East-West. I was probably a bit South of where you go, and South of the ridge, in about 13'. We did not get too close to the ridge as we had a "new guy" with, and he was a little bit nervous. Just as well as the weather was warm, then cold at night and the ice cracked literally non-stop all night, not the loud ones, just truly continuous, and the ice looked like a checkerboard in the morning! ooo.gifooo.gifooo.gif

Also I am not familiar with what you are calling the boat harbor at Rocky. I was under the impression that was all Private Shoreline, and the road ended at Private Property, fifty yards or so, short of the lake. blush.gif

Sooo... at the request to stay more on original topic...

Hillmans pine tree road was the farthest North, East-West maintained road... on the lake ... at that time, and is probably going to be the only passable, Northern road, with a maintained access... for some time, if not to the end of the ice season, with the new snowfall and wind. grin.gif

Update: Unfortunately, according to Kellys' post on another thread, some [Please Do Not Contact Us], have parked their wheel houses on the maintained road, refusing to move, and the drifts from their houses are so large that the road cannot be reasonably altered! Sooo... at this time one can not get West of the Ridge. Hope nobody is stuck out there!!! Time for a Wagon Train, and a "GREAT BIG HOWDY" from everyone going out that way!!! Do not forget, you can park 10 feet away from them and run your generators and trucks all night! grin.gif Hope they don't get stuck! shocked.gif

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"A few weeks ago, Hillman's Road did not extend as far west as the terminus of Shoreline Drive, or even as far as Rocky Point. Fishermen were driving out from these two points, and they were the "furthest north ice roads". No plow or chains necessary, and it was easy to spot and avoid potentially dangerous cracks, etc."

Jan. 7th, my birthday, Patsy and I checked and plowed to within 1/4 mile of the Res. Line. We marked that road with Balsam boughs. And we fished a little too. cool.gif

Right now Pat Foster's/Club Red sewer has been caved in. Every bit of scrubery in his yard has been run over and smashed flat. The ropes and stakes he has put up have been smashed flat by fishermen using this "new access point".

"two sites"

One of these sites you mention is someones front

yard!!!!!!

Problem solved. Foster plowed his road off the lake shut and his neighbors will be blocking the entire road past their cabins with their vehicles.

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I know Foster is beyond upset, he had one joker drive right down his sidewalk, good thing he wasn't coming out the door or he would have got hit.

Now this is not some big resort or something that you would see on a metro lake. It is a few little tiny cabins lined up on shore in the middle of nowhere and he has wheel houses whipping through his yard at 5am running over his shrubs and trashing his sewer.

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Good Grief! It's incredible to me that people will do this kind of stuff. Stan C.

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With the number of people who view this forum, I'm sure they are reading this too and still don't get it. frown.gif

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Yup. A dedicated drainage easement is a world of difference from a public right-of-way. Unless you've been to the county recorders office and know exactly what you're doing, you run the risk of a trespass charge and a big friggin' bill for damages.

As far as parking on a county road and hauling your boat in the rest of the way by hand, your vehicle could be cited and towed for obstructing the public right-of-way.

If it isn't marked as a public access, just stay away.

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